F-Type Recreates Record Run

Sixty years after Jaguar set a land speed record, the new F-Type has returned to the hallowed ground for a little bit of history repeating.

Make no mistake about it: topping 170 miles per hour is epically fast. Even on racetracks and derestricted stretches of Autobahn, few cars ever hit that kind of speed. And that’s today. Just imagine what that was like in 1953. That’s when Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis got an XK120 roadster up to 172.4 mph, setting a new land speed record on a closed road in Jabbeke, Belgium. Sixty years later, Jaguar has returned to recreate the run, this time with former Le Mans winner Andy Wallace behind the wheel of the new F-Type V8 S.

The roadster hit almost 180 mph on the run, reaching 62 in 4.2 seconds. The historic reenactment kicked off a parade of classic Jags to Geneva, in which another F-Type V8 S posted 35.6 mpg. Wallace probably burned more than that on his top-speed run, but it only goes to show the new Jaguar's versatility.